Johnny Long takes over strength program.

It is 8:30 on Friday morning and Johnny Long is wet with sweat as he drinks some honey trying to keep his voice. Long has just finished working out the football team and he could not be happier.

Long simply loves helping athlete’s reach their potential and he loves to work.

“I really enjoy coming in having a chance to work with young athletes and give everything I have to them,” Long said. “God has blessed with the knowledge. I just fell in love with the sport of weightlifting and I have wanted to give something back which is why I decided to coach when I was 15.”

Long is a bundle of boundless energy restless as he sits in the chair talking. His mind wonders onto ways he can improve things in between interview questions.

Today, Long has officially been named the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Tennessee replacing John Stuckey, who physically can no longer work, is taking a medical retirement. Long has spent the last year as the acting head strength coach and simply could care less about titles.

“Titles don’t matter,” Long explained. “They have never mattered to me. In the eight years I have been here I have never been a title guy. To this day, titles don’t mean anything because if we don’t work hard then we don’t have to worry about a title. There are two types of coaches and I have always been taught that. There are those that have been fired and those that are fixing to be fired. If you look on my door it says staff not Johnny Long.”

What does matter to Long is winning. To say the 33-year old Louisiana native is competitive is an understatement. He barks like a drill sergeant and he researches weight-training techniques daily. Long has a daily journal from his childhood and daily notes from the last eight years he has been on the Vol staff.

“I don’t think there is anyone who hates to lose more than me,” Long suggested. “It irks me. When I go home at night I am up till two or three thinking of ways we can get better. How are we going to stride to never lose? I think that drive was installed in me at eight years old when I started competing and now being here I want these young kids to see that being competitive in life is not only going to help you as a football player but it is also going to help you get that job outside of sports.”

Long’s attention to detail rivals his competitiveness. The weight room is cleaned every day and Long is in the middle of every workout that takes place. He is driven, motivated and refuses to accept no as an answer.

“I hate ‘I can’t’ and failure,” Long said. “Those are the two words I hate the most. ‘I can’t’ should never come out of an athlete’s mouth or an individuals mouth. Obviously you can. Mike Ditka says you put yourself in position to get some where in life and if you can’t handle it then that is your problem. You are going to have a chance in life to get somewhere, but how hard are you going to work to keep it. Failure comes to those who give up or they are satisfied and have no desire to get better.”

Long’s drive and competitiveness comes from a childhood of competition, some rejections and the ability to overcome.

“When I was eight years old, I started competing in Olympic weightlifting and they told me I could not go to the junior Olympics because I was too young and ever since then I have had the drive to be the best I can be and through the years something has always happened to make me better,” Long explained. “I hate to lose. The letter hanging here on the wall is a rejection letter from Nebraska nine years ago and that was the biggest motivator for me. The day I got back this letter hand written from Boyd Epley. He is supposedly the master of strength training and he told me that if he had any openings then he would have to fill it with one of his eight graduate assistants and that made me mad. I knew I was better than any of those guys.”

Long at one point was making a good living working as an Olympic strength coach in Louisiana but gave it up to be a graduate assistant at Tennessee. He went from having money to living for a year and a half on a blow up mattress in Knoxville. It was a change in lifestyle, but it was one that Long said he desperately needed.

“Many of my friends are overdosed on drugs or they are not around,” Long explained. “I have just a few of them left and I am here. How blessed am I. I could have taken the drug route. I could have very easily gone the drug route. I have lost six friends from drug overdoses and things like that. I just did not want to fail in life.”

And Long certainly has not failed. After his 18-month stay in Knoxville he returned to Louisiana until John Stuckey called and told Long that he had a place on him on his staff. And for the last eight years, Long said he has learned and molded his coaching style from some of the best.

“I came in here with a hard work ethic and I molded my coaching style from Coach Fulmer, Coach Stuckey, and Coach Gale Hatch (a longtime strength and conditioning guru/coach),” Long said. “Coach Fulmer, he knows everything that takes place here. He knows every tidbit about football, recruiting, and what happens in weight room all the way down to how clean it is. Coach Stuckey was the exact same way. He knew everything taking place in the weight room. He knew everything about who was doing what and accountability.”

Last year, Long admits that the challenge was tough. He was thrust in charge while Stuckey recovered from a medical procedure and while in the back of his mind he knew that it in one sense it was a job audition for him, his main goal was to man the fort for his boss.

“It was very tough,” Long admitted. “Coach Stuckey knew everything that was going on every second. I knew what had to be done because of what he has taught me over the last eight years. I knew that this was my chance to make sure we all kept our jobs. My job was to hold down the fort until he got back and I think that is what you want every assistant to do.”

And now his challenge is even greater as he follows in the footsteps of a legend.

“It is always easier when you follow behind somebody who did not work hard. It makes you stand out,” Long said. “You don’t get that luxury following behind coach Stuckey. In following coach Stuckey I am following a Bear Bryant in this field. And working for him has taught me show much. He taught me that the little things with an athlete matters. You care about an athlete and show them love. You put your arm around them when they are having a bad day. He taught me that not only are football, weight lifting and school important but that the spiritual side of life is very important. Each and every day I was able to pick up so many little things about life from him. I don’t think you find a harder working man than John Stuckey. You have to remember they had a 13-0 season, a national title, and two SEC titles under his watch. That did not happen by luck.”

And neither did Long’s promotion to head strength and conditioning coach. He spent years learning from one of the best in John Stuckey. He proved himself under fire last year and he remained loyal to the players and to Tennessee by turning down guaranteed jobs to complete his yearlong audition with the Vols.

“I love everyone here,” Long said. “Everybody has been such a great help to me here. The loyalty I have here is great. They are my family. One of the mains reasons I stayed is the loyalty and love I have for Tennessee.”

Now, he is focusing on molding a football team, finding some leadership and getting a group into the best shape of their lives for August two a days in just over four weeks.